


Proximate Causes

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fill, Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: Mrs Hudson is not a wagering woman, but she does sometimes speculate.  Written for JWP #12.





	Proximate Causes

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Mrs Hudson wanted a word today. Written in a complete rush. And absolutely no beta. Written in a huge rush. Be very afraid. I know I am.
> 
> Author's Notes: Written for JWP #12: For the Want of a Brolly. Specifically, a lost umbrella.

By the end of my first six months as their landlady, I would have wagered a tidy sum that Mr Holmes would wind up in hospital before the year was out. The way he carried on, not eating half the time, and the company he kept – Doctor Watson and a few Inspectors from Scotland yard excepted – well, it passed understanding that he hadn’t already wound up there. Except Doctor Watson, being a doctor and a good, kind man, took excellent care of Mr Holmes when needed, just as he tended to me on the rare occasions I felt unwell. Truthfully, sometimes I thought he took better care of others than he did himself, for he was still terribly thin and not at all well.  
  
By the time a year had gone by, I thought it far more likely that Mr Holmes would be the cause (directly or indirectly) of Doctor Watson going into hospital. And yet I couldn’t say a word against it, for it was clear that Doctor Watson was as keen as could be to accompany Mr Holmes on his cases. They seemed to do him good when he didn’t overtax himself, and I rather thought Mr Holmes must be taking at least some care that his friend did not do so. The criminals, on the other hand, had no such consideration. But my lodgers seemed to keep their skins mostly intact despite everything, and so I tried not to worry too much about what couldn’t be helped.  
  
As it turned out, it was nearly three years before either of my tenants needed serious medical attention. In the end, the culprit was neither bad habits nor criminal activity, but foul weather and a lost umbrella. Mr Holmes was off on one of his cases, one of the small number where Doctor Watson did not accompany him. Doctor Watson’s spirits were always lower at such times, but he did his best to keep himself occupied. He was not yet well enough to practice medicine, but he visited the booksellers and his club, and went for daily constitutional walks, regardless of the weather.  
  
The weather was incredibly foul that week, and Doctor Watson had lost his umbrella some time earlier and not replaced it. He did not let that deter him. He simply bundled himself up in his coat – still neat, but worn, and not really proof against really bad weather – and hat, and went out all the same. Perhaps it would have caused no harm, or the doctor would have just caught a little cold. He was already sounding a little hoarse when he went out that sixth day, only to find himself at the scene of an omnibus accident. He spent nearly five hours out in the pouring rain that was half sleet. By the time he returned home, he was pale and shaking with cold, so much so he could barely speak.  And by the next morning, he was burning with fever.   
  
That was in the late fall. It was December by the time Doctor Watson was back to anything like what he’d been before falling ill. Mr Holmes was far more considerate of his fellow-lodger during his illness and convalescence than most would imagine, if they did not know them well. I did, of course. I’m their landlady, and well aware of what good friends they’ve become. I also know Mr Holmes has a new coat hanging in his wardrobe, a much warmer, waterproof garment that’s just Doctor Watson’s size. He’s going to give it to the doctor for Christmas, I believe.  
  
And I am going to give my lodgers umbrellas as my Christmas gift. Identical ones, the pair of them, so if one gets lost, there will be another, ready and waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 12, 2017.


End file.
